Stabilized pickup hook for aircraft



l949 J w. GRIESINGER ETAL. 2,487,798

STABILIZED PICKUP HOOK FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Feb. 7, 1946 INVENTORIJ.

Patented Nov. 15, 1949 STABILIZED PICKUP HOOK FOB AIRCRAFT John W. Griesinger and Lorell V. Larson,

" Dayton, Ohio ApplicationFebruary 7, 1946, Serial No. 646,189

6 Claims. (Cl. 258-42) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to pick-up hooks used on aircraft, and more particularly to suchhooks combined with stabilizing means.

In this art of aerial pick-up devices attempts have heretofore been made to provide stabilizing means on the pick-up hooksthat are mounted on the pick-up cables of aircraft, in order to keep the prong extending forwardly, but in such a device the hook usually has been provided with a solid vane and the vane has been formed rigidly on the body of the hook, as shown by the United States Patents 1,999,777 to Palmer, and 2,131,610 to Arndt, for example. Hooks with such short solid vanes have been tested in flight and have been found to be entirely impractical because such a hook with the rigid vane secured thereon would upon deflection have a rolling moment tending to cause climbing or diving and resulting in a violent spiral path oscillation. Such a previous hook with solid vane might be made feasible or possibly even practical by greatly lengthening the vane thereon, or moving the center of pressure of the vane a considerable distance rearward of the hook, and furthermore using several vanes placed crosswise to one another. However, such hooks with rearwardly extended or crossed vanes thereon would be weighted down and would moreover notpermit the hook with its solid vane to be wound upon the pick-up reel in the airplane, and thus the loopedcable, that is grappled by the hook and has the article or cargo at itslower end which is being picked up, could not be wound up on the reel in any practicalmanner so as to 'raise the cargo into the aircraft, as is necessary with such pick-up devices.

In a similar manner, such form of stabilizer as shown in the paravane 55 in Fig. 15 of the British patent to Burney No. 546,587, lacks efficient performance, although affording. betterv stabilizing than the aforementioned solid single vanes, for the reason that said paravane has wings and also has a rudder which extend in different planes. However, that form of stabilizer, just like those solid vanes, could not be wound upon the reel along with the cable above it'and along withthe looped cable below it that brings up the cargo which is being picked up.

In accordance with the present invention it has been found that the disadvantages of the prior art constructions can be avoided by employing a flexible drag or streamer in place of rigid guide vanes.

A flexible drag or streamer is capable of supplying forces tending to stabilize tow target sleeves, or a windsock, or may be a fabric ribbon or streamer secured at one end to the rear part of the hook.

t is therefore the essential object of our invention to provide a pick-up device which includes a hook member arranged for attachment to the lower end of the pick-up cable and which includes a pliable stabilizing means secured to the rear part of said pick-up member to trail for a substant'ial length rearward of the member, so as to actually keep the hook or prong of said member extending forwardly, and this stabilizing means and hook member being furthermore arranged so as to be actually windable along with the cable onto the pick-up reel when the article or cargo is being reeled into the aircraft.

These and various other objects and advantages are attained with this invention, as will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein our invention is shown in its preferred form, it being apparent that other arrangements and forms of construction may be resorted to in carrying out the objects and purposes of this invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view in elevation showing our hook member with stabilizer thereon attached to a pick-up cable on an aircraft and grasping a looped cable with a cargo thereon, a part of the cabin being broken away to disclose a wind-up reel.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of our improved 1 hook member with the stabilizer thereon.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the hook member taken on line 3- 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial elevational view, similar to Fig, 2, but showing a slightly modified form including a windsock for the stabilizer.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to'Fig. 1, we have disclosed our invention in the form of a pick-up member or hook Ill combined with a stabilizer H thereon, and we have shown the same in connection with an airplane t2 of conventional type which contains a pick-up cable l3 windable on a Winch or reel l4 rotatably mounted on suitable supporting means IS in the body of the airplane. The hook member ID is utilized to grasp and take along the looped cable 16 which is releasably supported by suitable means i! mounted on top of a pair of masts l8, the article or cargo l9 at the bottom of the looped cable 16 being picked up in this manner, as is well known.

This hook member Ill is made sturdy but relatively slender and it has a channel 2| provided vertically therethrough to receive therein the cable l3. This channel includes an enlarged lower notch 22 adapted to receive the knotted lower end of cable 13. At the front end of said member .ll)v is a hook or prong 24, and at the rearward end is a vertical slot 25, and this disclosed form also has a horizontal aperture 26 extending through the hook and transversely of said slot.

The flexible stabilizer H is connected to said member H1 so as to extend and trail rearward thereof, and it is preferably in the form of a ribbon which has its front end secured in said slot 25 by suitable securing means, as for example a pin or element 21 entered through the aperture 26 and through said ribbon end, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Tests with this invention have shown that for the usual pick-up cargo the average pick-up device may be arranged in the following sizes and proportions, 4 /2 inches will be suitable for the height and also for the length of the hook member Ill, and 2 /2 inches width with 2 /2 foot to 3 foot length for the ribbon II. This ribbon may be of strong fabric and it extends rearwardly from said member during operation.

A modified form of stabilizer is shown in Fig. 4. Therein a windsock 3| includes a front ring 32 which is secured by a bridle 33 to a cord 34, said cord having its forward end entered in the slot 25' and fastened to the securing means 21' in the hook member ID. This ring 32 is slightly flexible and is readily windable along with the cord and seek upon the reel, and the cord is about 2 foot long, while the sock is about 1 foot long and it with its front ring are about 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

This provides a practical stabilized pick-up device which keeps the prong extending forwardly, and which with its relatively slender hook combined with the flexible stabilizer is also readily windable along with the pick-up cable and the looped cable onto the reel in the aircraft, so that the load can always be reeled up promptly and properly into the cabin.

We claim:

1. A pick-up device for connection to a pick-up cable on an aircraft, said device comprising a hook member having a forwardly extending prong thereon and containing means arranged for attachment to the pick-up cable, and an elongated *flexible trailing stabilizer and means whereby it is secured to said member to trail a substantial distance rearward thereof and keep said prong projecting forwardly during flight, said member being relatively slender and said stabilizer being flexible so that they together with the cable can be wound up on a pick-up reel in the aircraft.

2. A pick-up device for connection to a pick-up cable on an aircraft, said device comprising a relatively slender hook membr having a prom:

at its forward end and having an opening intermediate the forward and rearward parts through said member to receive the lower part of the cable therein, and a stabilizing means and means whereby it is secured to the rearpart of said member to trail for a substantial distance rearwardly behind the same and obviate spiral oscillations of said member and effectively retain the prong projecting forwardly during flight, said stabilizing means being flexible so that it together with the cable and with this hook member can be readily wound up on the pick-up reel in the aircraft.

3. The subject matter set forth in claim 2, and wherein the hook member has a rear slot extending vertically therethrough and the stabilizing means is in the form of a long flexible ribbon having its front end positioned in said slot and secured to said member.

I 4. The subject matter set forth in claim 2,

and wherein the stabilizing means is in the form of a windsock having cord means at its front end whereby it is secured to the rear part of said member.

5. A pick-up device for connection to a pick-up cable on an aircraft, said device comprising a relatively slender hook member having a prong at its forward end, also having an opening intermediate the forward and rearward end vertically through the member to receive the lower part of the cable therein and having at the rear end a vertical slot and an aperture extending horizontall through said slotted end, stabilizing 35 means extending from said rearward end having its forward end positioned in said slot, and means in said aperture and in said end of the stabilizing means to hold the latter in place so as to trail for a substantial distance behind the 0 member to avoid spiral oscillations of the member and effectively retain the prong projecting forwardly during flight, said stabilizing means being flexible so that it together with the cable and also the hook member can be wound up properly on the reel in the aircraft.

6. A pick-up device for connection to the lower end of a pick-up cable on an aircraft which comprises a relatively thin hook member streamlined on the sides and having a cable opening extending vertically therethrough intermediate the forward and rearward edges, an integral hook extending forwardly and upwardly from the front edge of said member, a rudder extending rearwardly from the rear edge of said member, said rudder being in the form of a long flexible ribbon lying in a vertical plane, and means to fasten said ribbon to said rearward edge.

JOHN W. GRIESINGER.

LORELL V. LARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

